Garthys Journal - Return to the Gym

Right, after much nagging from Taz - he is worse than my wife Here is my current journal. It is a 5 week quest to get back into condition after a 3 month break from the gym and prepare my body for the journey ahead!

Its 5 weeks mainly because that is when my wife is due to give birth to our new baby. Fathers are encouraged to hold the new born baby bare chested so it can bond via sense of smell and so if I have to take my top off in front of nurses then I want to look good

After 5 weeks when my body has adapted to the training again I will start a 12 week bodybuilding program. I have not trained for 3 months due to a medical condition where I lost my eyesight but all is now well so I am looking forward to getting back into shape. Im looking to improve general fitness levels, increase muscle tone and lose bodyfat.

My training program will be as follows:

Day 1 Back
Day 2 Chest
Day 3 Rest
Day 4 Shoulders
Day 5 Legs
Day 6 Rest
Day 7 Arms
Back to Day 1

I will be doing 3 exercises per bodypart - 3 sets on each using fairly light weights with perfect form, 12-15 reps. 1 warmup set will be done on the first exercise.

For cardio I will do 10 mins warmup before weights and then 20 mins at the end to cool down.

Diet will be roughly as follows:

Meal 1 Pro Mass shake with 50grams oats, banana

Meal 2 Chicken salad sandwich on wholegrain with olivio, apple

Meal 3 Chicken with wholegrain pasta in a tomato sauce with vegetables,

Meal 4 Pro Mass shake & Low fat yoghurt

Train

Meal 5 Salmon, vegetables, small sweet potato

Meal 6 Turkey salad

I must stress the training programme is specific to me and is what I have found works for the goal I have set myself and will not work as well for everyone!!!

I am starting next week and will post progress as I go along

[quote]Right, after much nagging from Taz - he is worse than my wife [/quote]



Finally, its here

Glad to here your getting better now mate! Your programme and diet plan looks good. Just a point, I feel arms would be better on day 5 and legs on day 7 otherwise your back (day 1) and chest (day 2) may suffer, let me know what you think. What type of cardio prog are you doing?

Keep up the good work Garthy!

Right I am starting this program tonight - Taz I will bear in mind what you have said and see how I go for the first week.

Tonights work will be a light session to get my muscles used to lifting weights again.

5-10 mins cardio (will use the rower tonight)
3 x warmup sets of pressups using push up bars (20 reps per set)
3 x Incline barbell bench press 12,10,8
3 x Incline dumbell press 12,10,8
3 x incline flyes 12,10,8
20 mins cardio cooldown

Taz - I know your not a big fan of flyes but I have found the incline flyes are helping give shape to my chest so will perservere with these for a while.

Will let you know how I get on !!!

Right - an update as I have not had time to post for ages due to work and forthcoming baby commitments!

After my chest session I was in a lot of pain the following two days as the muscles had been broken down and I had become declimatised to training after a break. I had to leave it a few days before I trained again as I was so sore!

I followed with a shoulder session 2days after:

5-10 mins cardio (rower
1 x warmup set of seated shoulder barbell presses
3 x seated shoulder barbell presses 12,10,8
3 x lateral raises 12,10,8 supersetted with 3 x front raises 12,10,8
20 mins cardio cooldown

Again my shoulders were really sore after this session - a good sign I had targeted the muscles. I waited till I was fully recovered then 2 days later trained legs:

5-10 mins cardio (bike)
3 x warmup sets of squats with bar
3 x sets of barbell squats
3 x front squats
3 x leg raises supersetted with 3 x hamstring curls
20 mins cardio cooldown

Needless to say I could hardly walk after this session - I had not trained legs for a long time and the squats were intensive. Very hot in my home gym too whilst training so I may put the aircon unit in there next week!

This moring I felt strong and am busy tonight so I trained early - at 6:30am and did arms:

5-10 mins cardio (rower)
1x warmup set of close grip barbell press
3 x close grip barbell press
3 x 1 arm extensions
3 x barbell curls supersetted with 3 x hammer curls
20 mins cardio cooldown

My body is adjusting to the training and I am starting to feel strong again now so I will continue in this vein for a few weeks before I change the program.

Today is Saturday and I am resting after completing the first full cycle of bodyparts with my training programme!

I trained back yesterday:

5-10 mins cardio (rower)
3 x sets of chin ups
3 x sets of bent over row in powercage
3 x 1 arm dumbell rows
20 mins cardio cooldown

My body is aching today - a dull ache in back and my legs are still sore from legs so although I really want to train I will just do 30 mins steady cardio this afternoon and keep my diet clean.

Diet has been pretty good so far with 6 meals a day and plenty of protein and complex carbs and low in fat although I have had quite a few cheat meals to help me adjust to eating healthily again

Ok guys - my best intentions with training have taken a lower priority in my life recently - changing nappies and pacifying a screaming baby have overtaken my training goals!

However, I am now back in the gym for good. Still following the routine I outlined in the first post and feeling much better for getting back to it. I trained back last night for the first time ina while and now consitency is key!

For back last night I did the following:

10 mins light rowing
4 x Bent over rows (1 warmup set)
3 x Single arm dumbell rows
3 x deadlifts (light but with perfect technique!)

Not worrying about weights at the moment -just concentrating on getting the muscles used to lifting again and enjoying the feeling of training! Chest tonight so will update again tomorrow

OK latest update - On Thursday I trained Chest with the following:

10 mins cardio warmup
3 x 10 Pushups with bars (performed slowly)
4 x Barbell Bench Press (1 warmup)
3 x Incline dumbell presses
3 x Incline Dumbell flyes

I then attempted to do 3 pushups and could not manage 1 - happy with that as it meant I had exhausted chest!

Tonight I did legs:

10 mins cardio on bike
4 x barbell squats (1 warmup)
3 x leg extensions
3 x leg curls
3 x calf raises

My back is killing me today - DOMS (delayed onset of muscle soreness) has kicked in and my chest is tightening up!

Rest tomorrow and resume on Sunday with shoulders. Program at the moment is:

Day 1 Back
Day 2 Chest
Day 3 Legs
Day 4 Rest
Day 5 Shoulders
Day 6 Arms
Day 7 Abs
Day 8 Rest
Back to Day 1

I will be doing 3 exercises per bodypart - 3 sets on each using fairly light weights with perfect form, 12-15 reps. 1 warmup set will be done on the first exercise.

For cardio I will do 10 mins warmup before weights and then 20 mins at the end to cool down.

Hi guys - well I have been sticking to my programme outline in the last post, however am struggling to keep my thread updated at the mo as have had a spate of illness in the family so have decide just to post up when I have problems or change the workout or have particular inspiration!

The program is working well at the mo, strength is returning and I am enjoying the workouts - short but intensive. Will take some measurments on the weekend and then will see how I progress over the next few months so I can track my progress

Sounds like a good routine there matey - keep up the good work and keep us posted

Latest update is I have been sticking to this plan nicely - I am currently 16 stone 1 lbs with bodyfat approximately 15% although I will emasure this with calipers later tonight.

One possible issue, as my lifts have got increasingly heavier I may need to rething the training routine as I twinged my back last week and think its possible due to having back and legs so close together - deadlifts on Day 1 then Squats on day 3!

Will have a think about this and post up later - will hopefully get some pics up soon too!

OK latest update = training is progressing nicely at the mo - I am currently using the following routine:

Day 1 Back
Day 2 Chest
Day 3 Rest / Cardio
Day 4 Abs / Cardio
Day 5 Legs
Day 6 Shoulders
Day 7 Arms
Day 8 Rest / Cardio
Day 9 Abs / Cardio
Back to Day 1

I have included some more rest days and another abs session as I was finding my muscles had not fully recovered before I was hitting them again. This is now working well and I am placing the emphasis on nutrition to really ger results from my training. Hopefully get some pics up soon!

Hi Garthy,

Your prog looks gr8!

What do you think of my current split?

Day 1 FULL BODY (Heavy)
Day 2 Rest
Day 3 FULL BODY (Light)
Day 4 Rest
Day 5 FULL BODY (Moderate)
Day 6 Rest
Repeat

No joke i've been doing this for a while and getting awesome results!

Let me know when your free and we'll meet up!

Looks like a good split Taz

I am thinking of only training 3 days a week howvere a bit different

Monday- Chest,Shoulders,Tris
Tuesday- Cardio
Wednesday- Back,Bis
Thursday-Cardio
Friday-Legs

Quick question about your current routine. Do you use different exercises on Monday, Wednesday and Friday? Or do you perform the same exercises but just with different weights?

Is it a bit wrong that I mis-read this as Garthys Journal - Return to the Jedi????

[quote:2222="fair singer"]Is it a bit wrong that I mis-read this as Garthys Journal - Return to the Jedi????[/quote]

LolYou have films on the mind Fair Singer!

Right - I have some new goals at the moment as I am starting to play rugby this season and start pre season training this week. I have been training regularly with the program above but have found that I needed more rest inbetween body parts. Also I am doing a lot more cardio now so having to adjust my diet accordingly. Here is my new routine which I am going to stick to for 8 weks - aim is to build some muscle and stay relatively lean:

Day 1 – Chest / Triceps

Barbell Press flat
Dumbell Press incline
Flyes Flat
Skullcrushers

Day 2 – Cardio Steady state

Rower – 15 mins averaging 30 strokes per minute
Treadmill / Run – 15 mins (2 mins warm-up / run 10kmh 10mins / cool down 3 mins)

Day 3 – Legs / Abs

Squats
Calf raises
Crunches
Crunches leg roll

Day 4 – Cardio Explosive

Rower – 10 mins (alternate 1 min 20 strokes per min then 1 min 45 strokes per min)
Treadmill / Run – 15 mins (2 mins warm-up / alternate 1 minute 6kmh then 1 min 14kmh / cool down 3 mins)

Day 5 – Back / Shoulders / Biceps

Warm-up with chins
Bent over rows
Dumbell Press
Upright Rows
Barbell curls

Day 6 - Cardio Steady state

Rower – 15 mins averaging 30 strokes per minute
Treadmill / Run – 15 mins (2 mins warm-up / run 10kmh 10mins / cool down 3 mins)

Day 7 – Cardio Explosive

Rower – 10 mins (alternate 1 min 20 strokes per min then 1 min 45 strokes per min)
Treadmill / Run – 15 mins (2 mins warm-up / alternate 1 minute 6kmh then 1 min 14kmh / cool down 3 mins)

I like that split - let us know how you get on in terms of gains

Do you seriously train everyday? That's hardcore Garthy

[quote:1d09="Busty Assassin"]Do you seriously train everyday? That's hardcore Garthy [/quote]

I have now changed my training as I have started to play rugby again and so my goals are to build power and strength and keep my fitness levels up with adequate recovery time.

My current weeks training currently looks like this:

Monday - 7 miles on bike
Tuesday - Legs / Abs (3 working sets of heavy squats and 2 ab exercises)
Wednesday - 7 miles on bike. Back / Shoulders / Biceps (chins / bent over rows / shoulder press db / Barbell curls)
Thursday - 7 miles on bike / rugby training in evening
Friday - 7 miles on bike
Saturday - Matchday!
Sunday - Chest / triceps (BB flat bench press / Incline DB bench press / flat flyes / Skullcrushers)

Its going well so far - fitness has defnitely improved and my strength is building!